1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device for displaying various kinds of information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a display device having a frame area around its display section is known (see, for example, JP 2006-220786 A). In the frame area of this display device, a light-shielding resin layer is provided on the backside of a surface glass substrate, thereby hiding various circuits provided under the light-shielding resin layer, such as a driver, from being exposed to the surface.
There is a problem with the above-described display device disclosed in JP 2006-220786 A in that, due to a structural difference between the display section and its surrounding frame area, they do not appear to be a uniform color in a strict sense as seen from the surface side when the display section is not active (i.e. the device for displaying various kinds of information on the display section is not powered on). There is a desire among some display device manufacturers for a display device in which the display section and the frame area are a uniform color when the display section is not active, and at the start of operation content to be displayed gradually emerges from a blank part (fade-in); and conversely, at the end of operation displayed content gradually disappears and ends in a blank state again (fade-out). However, until now, it has been physically difficult to make the display section and the frame area a uniform color, and the desire of manufacturers has not been able to be fulfilled.
The present invention has been devised in view of such circumstances, and an object of embodiments of the invention is to provide a display device capable of making a display area and its surrounding area a uniform color when the display area is not active.